Keep this fly sparse, the key to this fly is the sparsness of the wing and the staggered construction of the layers. Keep the bucktail on top of the shank, tie in each layer of bucktail slightly ahead of the layer beneath it to reduce bulk. If you use a standard length hook, like a Mustad 34007 or 3407, you can cheat back a bit and leave the first ¼ of the hook shank bare metal, this will help reduce fouling. The dressing above is the original, but this construction can also be used with other colors, feel free to experiment—but after you tie some in the originals.

Target species

Striped bass, bluefish, weakfish

Fishing notes

This is an imitation for the Atlantic Silversides, a common baitfish in along the east Coast, it also imitates sandeels. The Ray’s Fly can be drifted in current as well as actively retrieved, and is effective fished on the point as a dropper on 2 or 3 fly rigs.